Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1887-09-10

tue uOdt says prayer, III which all the
others join fervently. This done, they
row 10 the fishing ground-I mean div
ing water-wherc their preparations do
not last long. The only dress of the
native is a garment called ''pareo,
and the only implement used Is a telo-
scope with which to examine the sea
bottom, This telescope is composed of
four boards, each Is to 20 inches long
and 10 to II inches wide, which are
nailed together so as to form a cham
Der, one end. of which is covered with
apiece of ordinary glass. This end is
placed on the surface of the water, in
order to efface the ripples. and as the
lagoons OF the archipelago are OF won
derful limpidity and transparency. this
rude apparatus enables them to sec the
oysters at a great depth.
My French friend tells me that the
divers in the Pacific ocean are far
more skillful and expert than are the
Indians employed in the Persian gulf
and at. .Ceylon. These latter facilitate
their descent BY means of a weight of
twenty-five or thirty-five pounds fasten-
ed to their feet. and carry seven or
eight pounds of ballast around their
waists; they stuff cotton soaked in oil
into their ears and tie a bandage over
their eyes.
Then they dive to the bottom in forty
feet of water, remain under 80 to 80
seconds. and aid themselves to rise by
means of a rope. Natives of Oceanica
observe none of these precautions. Be-
fore diving they initiate their lungs to
the utmost. first filling and emptying
them several times in quick succession,
then they take good long breath. go
down entirely naked, quickly get hold
of the largest oysters they can find, and
then rise to the surface with incredible
rapidity. As a rule. they remain under
a minute and half, when the water is
very deep; two minutes is rare. and
three minutes is an exceptional length
of time, to which few are ever able to
attain. The contractors and Europeans
have in vain tr ed to introduce the div
ing armor. the natives declaring that it
causes quick paralysis of their lower
limbs. There are three European div
ers in the islands who use scaphandles,
and who, with this assistance in the
work. make profitable thing of their
diving trips. They believe that their
armor frghtens off dangerous fishes,
Frank Stockton's receipt "black stock
ings for sharks" not yet having come
to their knowledge. -....
A Divers first precaution when he
gets down is to squeeze together the
lips of the she'll tightly lest the oyster,
in feeling itself torn away from the
rock, should open its bivalve and by
the spasmodic movement of its organs
expel the pearl which it may chance to
contain, for it is all a matter of chance
whether the shell has pearls inside of
it or not there being no exterior signs
whatever to Indicate the presence of
precious gems. 1t is true that Divers
have certain rules by which they are
guided in making their pick while at
the bottom of the sea, preferring oys-
ters the shells of which present certain
secuiiarities as to size, shape. and col
or; but NJ. Bouchon- Bradley says that,
as far as his experience went, it was
only occasionally that these outward
indications were verified. After the
people have finished their days div ing
they open the oysters that they have
collected, handling for that purpose
large knife with great dexterity. Each
shell and its contents are carefully ex-
Amined, SO that no pearl, however
small it may be, shall be lost The
employers are always present during
the operation, for. though the natives
are as naked as on the day when they
were born. they sometimes have trick
of swallowing pearls. / wonder if it
erer occurred to any of my fair readers
who string precious dewdrops about
their lovely necks by the scores that
perchance their gems may have passed
through the interior of a human being
before performing a similar journey
through the Boston custom-house.
The shells belong to the divers, who
bury them in damp sand, so that
there may be no loss of weight in the
drying before being sold. The price
for mother-of-pearl is constantly in
creasing. This is not what bears will
tell you, but it is true. Twelve years
ago the price was from to 12cents a
kilogramme; now the same sort is
worth from 35 cents to half a dollar.
Diving is carried on all the year round.
but November. December, January and
February are the principal months. that
being the season when, in thatIatitude,
the water is at its warmest tempera.
ture.
Like edible oysters. the pearl kind
has numerous enemies. The worst are
certain species of fish, one of which
can with its mouth crush the largest
she'll as I would an almond. There
are also several sorts of worms that
bore into the shells. and sometimes the
mother of pearl is as full of galleries
as any old worm-eaten stick of timber.
-